Medieval Life - The Manor

Last Updated: 08/04/2014 - 08:20

Ightham Mote, a 14th-century moated manor house in Kent, photo by Silver149

The parcel of land leased to a Baron by the King was known as a manor. Under the Feudal System, the Baron had complete control of the running of the manor provided he met certain obligations set by the King.

Castles

Most of the Barons who were given land by William the Conqueror, following his invasion and conquest of England in 1066, were French. They knew that many Saxons would be hostile to them and so they had to make sure that they could defend themselves. Many chose to build castles on their land and fill them with knights who, under the Feudal System, were bound to protect the Baron and his family. Others established large manor houses.

The Church

The church was another central feature of the manor. The religion of the whole of Europe was Roman Catholic and it was law that people went to church on a Sunday. The leading churchmen of the land, Bishops and Archbishops were very wealthy and helped to govern the country. The local priests, however, were much poorer and were often uneducated. It was the priest's job to look after the sick of the village as well as preaching in the church

Manor House

The manor house was the home of the Baron. Manor houses were large, reflecting the wealth and status of the Lord. They often comprised several buildings and were mainly self-sufficient, growing their own food and keeping animals in the grounds surrounding the house.

Villeins (serfs, peasants)

The largest amount of land on the manor would be used by the villeins. Their house would be surrounded by a yard called a 'toft' and a garden called a 'croft'. This land would be used for growing crops and vegetables, a percentage of which would be given to a knight as 'payment' for their land. Villein's houses were one-roomed and the family shared the space with the animals.

Popular Articles

While medieval European medicine was still mired in superstitions and the rigid Catholic teachings of the Church, the advent of Islam in the 7th century A.D. gave rise to impressive growth and discoveries in many scientific fields, especially medicine. Islamic scholars and doctors translated medical texts from all over the known world, including the Greeks and Romans, Persians and Indians. They not only gathered... Read More

From the 1st century A.D. to the late 19th century, one medical compound reigned supreme over all other remedies: theriac. First concocted by a Greek king worried about poisons, theriac went from being a general antidote to snake bites to an all around panacea, used to treat everything from asthma to warts, including the Black Plague. Famous doctors throughout this long history experimented with the drug and... Read More

If you think, as some do today, that many drugs used as medicines are potentially deadly, consider what people living in medieval times were prescribed as curative agents—from ground up corpses to toxic mercury to crocodile dung. The annals of medieval medical history are full of substances that make us cringe. Yet people believed in these cure-alls and willingly took them when prescribed by a doctor of the... Read More

The Neo-Assyrian Empire used earthen ramps, siege towers and battering rams in sieges; the Greeks and Alexander the Great created destructive new engines known as artillery to further their sieges, and the Romans used every technique to perfection. That is to say, the Romans were not inventors, but they were superb engineers and disciplined, tough soldiers who fought against great odds and won, repeatedly.

Demetrius I, King of Macedon, invented many siege engines including battering rams and siege towers. For the Siege of Rhodes, he created the Helepolis, the Taker of Cities, a huge armored siege tower containing many heavy catapults.

The island city of Rhodes maintained its neutrality among the warring nations of the time, although it remained friendly to Ptolemy I of Egypt, the enemy of Demetrius of... Read More

Site Search

Search

Worksheets - Downloads

Claimants to the Throne WordsearchA wordsearch of key words associated with the claimants to the throne following the death of Edward the Confessor. An ideal starter activity.